After a years-long hunt, Vermont botanists have rediscovered a floodplain-dwelling plant species that hadn’t been seen in the state since 1916.When it comes to the search for false mermaid-weed (Floerkea proserpinacoides), it’s not exactly an understatement to say it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. The plant is small, making it hard enough to spot among the many taller plants living alongside it.And if you thought its flower might make it more obvious, you’d be wrong – some are only the size of a pin head. Coupled with a short blooming period of around four to six weeks a year, there’s a lot working against anyone trying to find the plant.But 108 years after false mermaid-weed was last spotted in Vermont, Molly Parren, a turtle technician from the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, inadvertently snapped a picture of it whilst visiting a streamside parcel on private land and sent it to her botanist colleague."When I opened up the photo that she had sent, there was this little weird plant in the corner of the frame. And when I zoomed in, I immediately knew that it was Floerkea, that it was false mermaid-weed," Grace Glynn, a botanist at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department, told Vermont Public. "I couldn't believe that I was finally seeing this plant."According to a social media post from the department, Glynn then visited the site and confirmed the presence of the plant, as well as further specimens in a public conservation area downstream.Even considering its miniature size, it was a surprise to find false mermaid-weed in the state after all this time – though it’s native to and fairly common in multiple states in the US.“False mermaid-weed is a floodplain plant, and historic populations are believed to have been destroyed by some common challenges facing Vermont's floodplains: extreme floods, invasive species, and development,” said the department.“The fact that the newly rediscovered population of false mermaid-weed has been able to persist in good quality habitat - on both private and protected land in Addison County - for over a century is a sign that good stewardship by landowners and conservation organizations really can make a difference.”With the plant only blooming for a short period, it’ll be a year before the rediscovered patch can be surveyed in more detail. In doing so, it’s hope that botanists will learn more about how false mermaid-weed can be conserved.“Ultimately, we want to know how we can help this species flourish in Vermont in the future,” Glynn told VTDigger.

As NewsBusters reported, ABC, CBS and NBC were obsessed (even before the final verdict came down) with the Donald Trump trial.  On Monday, another big trial involving a political figure begins. However, don’t expect anywhere near the amount of network interest in D.A. Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of former President Donald Trump — because these legal proceedings involve Hunter Biden.  While Hunter isn’t on the same level as former President Trump, he is still the son of the current president and therefore his gun trial should garner a lot of attention and it probably would if ABC, CBS, NBC weren’t so in the tank for Team Biden. If their refusal to cover any of the recent Biden family scandals is a guide, don’t expect ABC, CBS, NBC to plaster their evening and morning shows with reports on Hunter Biden’s gun trial. The following are five brand new Biden family scandals (from the last three months) that ABC, CBS, NBC refused to report:      Documents Show Hunter Used Sandy Hook Memorial to Set Up a Meeting Between Joe and Chinese Business Partner On May 27, the New York Post reported:   Hunter Biden used his dad’s appearance at a Sandy Hook shooting memorial event to coordinate a previously unknown planned meeting between the former vice president and a Chinese business partner, newly unveiled texts showed. On Dec. 12, 2017, Hunter messaged CEFC executive Liu Yadong on WeChat to arrange a meeting with his powerful dad, documents released this week by the House Ways and Means Committee revealed. “Can you meet this evening early,” Hunter wrote in the messages obtained by IRS investigators. “My father will be in New York also and he wants me to attend the Sandyhook [sic] memorial service with him and I would like him to meet you along with my uncle [Jim Biden] and then you and I can talk let me know if that works.” “No problem,” Liu replied. “Pls let me know where and when to meet.” Joe Biden was later pictured at the Plaza Hotel for the event commemorating five years since the deadly Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. It was not immediately clear if Biden and Liu actually met that night. Despite repeatedly insisting his family earned no money from China, the president featured prominently in first son Hunter and first brother James Biden’s multimillion-dollar relationship with CEFC, with most of his known alleged interactions happening in 2017 shortly after he left office as vice president. Joe Biden played a similar supporting role in Hunter’s dealings with Chinese state-backed fund BHR Partners, which was registered just days after the father-son duo landed in Beijing aboard Air Force Two in 2013. The newly revealed texts between Hunter Biden and Liu came after several months of back-and-forth over the Biden clan’s involvement in a deal with CEFC – which has ties to the Chinese government – in exchange for a cool $10 million per year. ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: 0 seconds.   House Votes to Release Evidence That Proves Hunter “Indisputably” Lied Under Oath On May 22, the New York Post reported:  The House Ways and Means Committee voted Wednesday to release 100 pages of new evidence that shows Hunter Biden lied under oath to Congress during his Feb. 28 deposition. The evidence, provided by IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who probed the first son’s finances, reveals Hunter “indisputably” lied at least three times during his sworn testimony, the panel’s majority said after voting in a closed-door executive session for its release. Hunter, 54, claimed he was “high or drunk” when he sent a threatening text message to the wrong Chinese business associate — but phone records of the WhatsApp message show the associate, Raymond Zhao, responded and “knew exactly” what the president’s son was talking about when he asked to speak with the chairman of CEFC China Energy, Ye Jianming.  “Sure. I need some time to reach him,” Zhao, a translator for CEFC, wrote back in messages over the next day. “CEFC is willing to cooperate with the family.” The first son also kept exchanging messages with Zhao after making the threat that he was “sitting” with his father, Joe Biden, and said they would both “hold a grudge” if the CEFC translator reneged on a “commitment.” … Ziegler also provided documents to the committee showing that Hunter signed off on and was the “beneficial owner” of a Rosemont Seneca Bohai bank account — despite his testimony that it was not “under my control nor affiliated with me” and he “didn’t even know that there was such a thing” as a corporate secretary of an entity. “I, Robert Hunter Biden, hereby certify that I am the duly elected, qualified and acting Secretary of Rosemont Seneca Bohai, LLC,” reads the signed April 29, 2014, document, which allowed the first son to enter into a contract with Porsche Financial Services. Hunter also falsely denied that he would help his associates with “any work as it related to visas that they needed” or “pick up the phone and call anybody for a visa.” In fact, a Feb. 5, 2015, email obtained by Ways and Means show Hunter, his ex-business partner Devon Archer and other associates trying to secure a visa for the founder of the Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, Mykola Zlochevsky. “Hunter is checking with Miguel Aleman to see if he can provide cover to Kola on the visa,” Archer wrote in the email, before adding to Burisma associate Vadym Pozharskyi: “please send Hunter an email with all Kola’s passport and visa documents and evidence and copy me. We’ll take it from there.” “Hunter Biden has shown once again he believes there are two systems of justice in this country — one for his family, and one for everyone else,” said House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) in a statement. “Not only did Hunter Biden refuse to comply with his initial subpoena until threatened with criminal contempt, but he then came before Congress and lied.” ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: 0 seconds.   Hunter Claims He Never Introduced Dad to Burisma Exec, Despite Them All Having Dinner Together On May 20, the New York Post reported:  Indicted first son Hunter Biden suggested in a new interview that he didn’t introduce his father to an executive from a Ukrainian gas company that was paying Hunter a million-dollar salary — despite testifying to Congress that then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with the very same Burisma Holdings executive. The 54-year-old brazenly backpedaled days after a fresh report that “sugar brother” Kevin Morris, who has bankrolled Hunter since meeting him at a presidential campaign fundraiser in late 2019, is “completely tapped out” after giving or loaning the scandal-plagued Biden at least $4.9 million. President Biden’s son told The Daily Beast that lewd photos from his abandoned laptop, which also contained documents linking his dad to foreign business relationships, show “someone in the throes of addiction” and have been used to bolster the case that his business dealings were improper. “You know, ‘Here’s this degenerate. And we can show you in vivid detail the level of his degeneracy. And here’s him smoking a crack pipe. And here’s him naked in a bathtub… Oh, and by the way, here’s an email from Vadym [Pozharskyi] thanking him for introducing him to his dad,’” Hunter told the outlet. “Now, none of the second part is true. But they’ve made it a hell of a lot easier for people to believe.”  Hunter indicated he did not introduce the Burisma board adviser to his father despite testifying on Feb. 28 that then-VP Biden attended a pair of dinners at DC’s Cafe Milano restaurant in 2014 and 2015 — one of which included Pozharskyi, whose company hired Hunter in early 2014 as his dad assumed control of the Obama administration’s policy toward Ukraine. “I do believe that Vadym was at one of these dinners, yes,” Hunter told Congress, backing The Post’s initial October 2020 reporting on documents from Hunter’s abandoned laptop. The Post’s scoop was initially censored by Facebook and Twitter as the Biden campaign gave the impression it was denying the reporting, which described a thank-you email from Pozharskyi one day after the April 16, 2015, meal at Cafe Milano. Emails show Hunter planned for the dinner, which included other foreign patrons, to be “ostensibly” about his role on the board of the World Food Program USA charity. ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: 0 seconds.   Fund Manager Claims Jim Biden Had Business Relationship with Qatari Officials, Would Be Closest Link Between a Biden Family Member and Foreign Government On April 28, Politico reported:  New details about Jim Biden’s foreign fundraising efforts are spilling out in a Kentucky bankruptcy court, where recent testimony indicates that President Joe Biden’s brother partnered with Qatari government officials in his quest to find money for U.S. health care ventures. The sworn testimony by fund manager Michael Lewitt, a former business partner of Jim Biden’s, attests that two companies that facilitated the efforts were part-owned by “members of the Qatari government.” One company named in the testimony partnered directly with Jim Biden in the multi-year fundraising efforts. The second company provided financial backing for a series of loans that a hospital chain paid Jim Biden to arrange, according to documents and testimony Lewitt submitted in the course of the federal bankruptcy proceedings. If substantiated, the alleged arrangements would constitute some of the closest known financial links between a relative of President Joe Biden and a foreign government. The alleged arrangements stem from an effort by Jim Biden to raise money from Qatari sources for ventures in the U.S. beginning in the months after his older brother left the vice presidency. At the time, the tiny, gas-rich nation faced a financial blockade from its neighbors and was spending lavishly to shore up its political standing in the West. Public records and emails obtained by POLITICO offer a window on fundraising efforts in which Jim Biden invoked his ties to older brother and sought workarounds to restrictions on international money movements. Transactions related to the efforts are also at the heart of a recently-settled fraud case brought by the SEC and are being scrutinized as part of a federal criminal investigation in South Florida. Much about the efforts remains unknown, and the White House, the Qatari Embassy, and a representative for Jim Biden all did not respond to requests for comment for this story. ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: 0 seconds.   CIA Blocked Hunter’s “Sugar Brother” Attorney Friend From Being Interviewed by Feds     On March 21, the New York Post reported: The CIA blocked federal investigators from interviewing Hunter Biden’s “sugar brother” Kevin Morris during a five-year probe into the first son’s alleged tax crimes, a whistleblower has told House impeachment leaders. House Oversight and Judiciary Committee chairmen say the whistleblower informed them the intelligence agency stopped IRS and Justice Department investigators from interviewing Morris in August 2021, a Hollywood lawyer and patron of the first son, according to a Thursday letter addressed to CIA Director William Burns. The whistleblower informed Oversight chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Judiciary chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) that two DOJ officials were summoned to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. — and told Morris “could not be a witness” for their investigation into Hunter Biden. “It is unknown why or on what basis the CIA allegedly intervened to prevent investigators from interviewing Mr. Morris,” Comer and Jordan wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The  Post. “However, these allegations track with other evidence showing how the DOJ deviated from its standard investigative practices during the investigation of Hunter Biden.” The Republican lawmakers added that the account “seems to corroborate our concerns about DOJ’s deviations from standard process to provide Hunter Biden with preferential treatment,” which have been unearthed as evidence during their impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden. ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: 0 seconds.

Sally Buzbee has resigned from her post as Executive Editor of the Washington Post. She was at the struggling newspaper for just three years before calling it quits. The move comes just months before the presidential election. Fox News Digital reported that Buzbee will be replaced by former editor in chief of the Wall Street Journal Matt Murray. He is expected to stay on with the newspaper until the conclusion of the presidential election. Afterward, the job is expected to be passed to Robert Winnett, who is currently serving as the deputy editor at the Telegraph Media Group. 'We are taking a definitive step away from the 'one size fits all' approach and moving towards meeting our audiences where they are.'William Lewis, CEO and Publisher of the newspaper, said the change was needed because the paper is trying to accommodate its audience better, according to the New York Post. "Sally is an incredible leader and a supremely talented media executive who will be sorely missed. I wish her all the best going forward," Lewis said. Buzbee's departure was shared via email by Lewis to those on staff Sunday evening.The Washington Post released a statement on Sunday, stating:The Washington Post also announced today its intention to launch a new division of the newsroom dedicated to better serving audiences who want to consume and pay for news differently from traditional offerings. This third newsroom will be comprised of service and social media journalism and run separately from the core news operation. The aim is to give the millions of Americans – who feel traditional news is not for them but still want to be kept informed – compelling, exciting and accurate news where they are and in the style that they want.Buzbee previously worked as executive editor at the Associated Press before joining the Washington Post in 2021. However, during her tenure, the newspaper has suffered a significant loss in audience and labored under financial difficulties.Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos purchased the Washington Post in 2013 from then-chairman and CEO Donald Graham. Graham previously characterized Bezos as a "uniquely good new owner." The decision to hand the newspaper over to Bezos came after years of industry challenges, per reports.After a decade under Bezos' control, the newspaper is struggling once again."By creating three, strong, journalism functions — Core, Service/Social and Opinions — we are taking a definitive step away from the 'one size fits all' approach and moving towards meeting our audiences where they are," Lewis said.Murray expressed his excitement to get started on the newspaper, saying: "I’m deeply honored to join such a storied news institution with its long, rich history of memorable and impactful journalism and want to thank Sally for her great leadership.""I am excited by Will and Jeff’s vision for The Post’s next era of growth and reinvention and can’t wait to get started."One Washington Post insider said, "This has been a chaotic and turbulent period internally."Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

A concealed-carry license holder shot three males who physically attacked him amid an argument outside his Chicago home Friday night, police told WLS-TV.The 43-year-old victim was arguing with three other males he knew just before 11:30 p.m. in the 4700 block of West Wrightwood Ave. in the city's Belmont Cragin neighborhood when the three males physically attacked the victim, police told the station.'He's my cousin, the one that they beat up,' Andres Salgado told WLS. 'I don't really know the whole story, but my cousin's a hardworking man ... he has two kids. His wife is a teacher in public schools.'With that, police told WLS the victim pulled out a handgun and fired it, hitting all three alleged attackers.Police noted to the station that a 29-year-old male was shot five times in the torso; he was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition. WLS added that a 22-year-old male was shot in the chest and taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital in critical condition while a 55-year-old man was shot in the neck and was in critical condition at Illinois Masonic Hospital.The victim suffered blunt force trauma to his head and body and was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition, police told the station, adding that the victim's gun was recovered at the scene."He's my cousin, the one that they beat up," Andres Salgado told WLS. "I don't really know the whole story, but my cousin's a hardworking man ... he has two kids. His wife is a teacher in public schools."Salgado added to the station that the alleged attackers "tried to go into my cousin's house."Area Five Detectives are trying to determine a motive as well as the circumstances behind the attack, WLS said, adding that police haven't released information about possible criminal charges. "He's a hardworking man, doesn't deserve this," Salgado added to the station in regard to the victim. "Always with his kids, taking them to baseball, baseball practice, everything. His wife is a teacher. Very respectful family." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

“The War on Truth” isn’t the first January 6 documentary I’ve seen or reviewed. It isn’t the first in which some of my own video footage from that infamous day has appeared. But it is the first documentary that has featured so many people I’ve come to know and befriend, including the film’s producer and director. I attended the documentary’s premiere at the Angelica Film Center in Dallas on May 17. There was no shortage of tears in the sold-out theater. “The War on Truth” packs a powerful emotional punch. 'The War on Truth' isn’t a whitewash. It makes no excuses for people who engaged in questionable or wrongful acts that day. The documentary is a follow-up to 2021’s “Capitol Punishment.” Both films were directed by Chris Burgard, best known for his award-winning 2007 documentary, “Border.” Nick Searcy, who produced and narrates both films, is best known for his role as Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Art Mullen in the hit FX series “Justified.” I had the privilege of driving Searcy the next day to another screening of the film at a private ranch two and a half hours east of Dallas. The long drive gave me a chance to get more details about the challenges of bringing this long-overdue documentary to the screen. One complication was how quickly the January 6 narrative has changed — and is changing. Ongoing revelations, new evidence, and almost daily arrests make it difficult to sort the “good guys” from the “bad guys.” That makes telling a succinct story difficult. The documentary’s first edit was three and a half hours long, cut down from more than seven hours of useful interview footage, which was eventually trimmed to the film’s final run time of two hours and five minutes. Rather than focus on the more conspiratorial questions surrounding the events of the day, Burgard, Searcy, and editor Tim Lowry chose to focus on a handful of the more tragic stories of Americans whose lives have been upended by the Justice Department’s overly zealous prosecutions. This was a sound decision, setting “The War on Truth” apart from most all other January 6 documentaries and eliciting emotional responses from the premiere’s live audience. “The War on Truth” isn’t a whitewash. It makes no excuses for people who engaged in questionable or wrongful acts that day. For three years, I’ve recounted witnessing bad people doing bad things, good people doing good things, and good people making foolish choices in the heat of the moment. The undeniable truth is that the government has pursued a two-tiered and overly broad prosecution of those involved, regardless of their individual level of culpability. That’s what the film is about. Searcy is a compelling narrator. He is an anomaly among Hollywood actors for having somehow avoided “cancellation” for his beliefs and political activism. What’s more, he was at the Capitol on January 6, but he didn’t enter the building. He opens his narration by telling us what he saw “didn’t look like a riot; it looked like a tailgate party.” Of course, we now know that because of the actions of fewer than 300 violent offenders, tens of thousands of people have been painted variously as “insurrectionists” and “domestic terrorists.” The roughly 3,000 of those who entered through the open and unprotected doors of the Capitol Building with no intention of “insurrection” or stopping the 2020 election certification have suffered the worst of the Biden administration’s wrath. “The War on Truth” highlights several of these low-level misdemeanor offenders who’ve had their lives ruined by the loss of family, jobs, careers, and businesses and even spent time in prison for simply being on the Capitol grounds or doing their jobs as journalists that day. Some were randomly charged with felony obstruction when their actions weren’t more significant or rowdy than those who only faced misdemeanors. The film highlights individuals for whom video evidence contradicts the government’s claims against them. Take, for example, former Tennessee Deputy Sheriff Ronald Colton McAbee. Video footage shows him assisting law enforcement officers who were being assaulted during the battle at the Capitol’s west tunnel entrance. He also made desperate efforts to save Rosanne Boyland, who had been trampled and beaten during the melee. Boyland was one of four protesters who died that day. Federal prosecutors twisted McAbee’s heroic actions into felonious crimes, leading to his conviction and a 70-month prison sentence. Some people featured in “The War on Truth” are high-profile political activists. One such activist is Dr. Simone Gold, founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, who argued for alternative therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic that have since proven effective. Gold was a scheduled speaker at one of the legally permitted side stages on the Capitol grounds. When the protests turned into riots, she and her partner/bodyguard, John Strand, entered the Capitol Building for about 20 minutes. Gold accepted a plea deal from the government and, for her entirely nonviolent and nondestructive actions, received a 60-day prison sentence. Strand, on the other hand, refused to plead guilty to crimes he did not commit and went to trial for the same charges as Gold. For rejecting the government’s plea offer and ultimately being found guilty, Strand was sentenced to 32 months in prison. Gold's and Strand’s story hits particularly close to home, as the judge who sentenced them, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, is the same judge assigned to my case. Another too-close-for-comfort story is that of Jesus “J.D.” Rivera, a Florida-based videographer and professional photojournalist contracted by a Mobile, Alabama, television news affiliate to cover the events in D.C. on January 6. The truth is, we likely won’t know the whole truth about January 6 for a very long time — maybe not in our lifetimes. Rivera’s only crime that day was “following the story where the story went.” Eventually, the story led him inside the Capitol Building, essentially paralleling the path of the New Yorker’s Luke Mogelson. Rivera entered the building with his expensive, bulky, professional camera gear. Mogelson documented his time in the building with his cell phone. In one of the film’s most emotional sequences, Searcy and the camera crew followed Rivera and his wife to the Georgia federal penitentiary on the day he began serving his eight-month prison sentence. Rivera committed no acts of violence and did not engage in any chanting, parading, or picketing. As a professional journalist, he behaved just like Mogelson and approximately 60 other journalists who entered the “restricted” Capitol Building and were not charged. Nevertheless, Rivera was placed in solitary confinement for the first two months of his sentence at a federal facility, where he was the only defendant charged with a misdemeanor. But the most compelling scene of the film — and the one that seemed to resonate most with the audience in Dallas — was Searcy’s gut-wrenching interview with Victoria White. Exculpatory video and audio evidence make clear that White intervened against violent provocateurs who were trying to break windows on the Capitol’s west side. She can be heard shouting, “We don’t do that! We don’t do that!” Unfortunately, she made an errant judgment to join the crowd pressing through the west tunnel, evidently believing it was a pathway to a higher terrace on the west side of the Capitol. Video evidence then shows White was caught in a crushing surge of people pushing into the tunnel while she tried to extract herself from the crush. Unable to move, all she could do was try desperately to stay on her feet and not be trampled. Eventually, she was pushed inside the tunnel, where video shows her doused in chemical sprays point-blank from law enforcement officers. She was beaten over the head more than 30 times with a metal baton by a D.C. Metropolitan Police officer. Stunned and barely conscious, White was dragged into the Capitol Building by police and arrested. She did no violence or property damage. Suffering extreme emotional and physical trauma, she eventually pleaded guilty to “interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder” and was sentenced to 10 days in prison. “The War on Truth” also presents expert testimony from FBI whistleblowers Kyle Seraphin and Steve Friend, intelligence expert J. Michael Waller, and journalists Tayler Hansen and Julie Kelly. Searcy and Burgard told me that they had to cut at least eight other stories for time. Some of those may be presented eventually in shorter vignettes on the film’s website and DVD release. My contributions to the film, including those in the sequence about Ashli Babbitt’s fatal shooting, were filmed more than a year ago. Considering what I’ve been through personally since December — and since my interview with Burgard — I would have liked to have offered somewhat more current input. But I’m not complaining. January 6 and its aftermath remain an evolving story, and “The War on Truth,” though incomplete, needed to see the light of day. The truth is, we likely won’t know the whole truth about what happened that day or why for a very long time — maybe not in our lifetimes. But what we do know, and what “The War on Truth” depicts so well, is that far too many well-intentioned Americans have been ensnared in an establishment narrative trap that has successfully tarred half the country as right-wing extremists with the goal of silencing them. It’s a lie. To counteract that lie, we need more documentaries like “The War on Truth.” “The War on Truth” can be streamed now on the film’s website. The filmmakers’ earlier January 6 work, “Capitol Punishment,” can be viewed free of charge on Rumble.

The president declined to comment on the three federal gun charges Hunter faces.

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